Another bristling 26 points and five assists by Marty Davison propelled his Pioneer side to a 76-67 win over front runner University of Canterbury in the Men’s Premier club basketball played in Cowles Stadium on Saturday. Regular efforts by Brent Fisher (20) and a subdued 14 points to Josh Petermann kept University in the hunt against Pioneer but the wizardry skills of Davison and strong mid-court play from Harley Campbell (18), Ariel Mepana and Cam Costley proved the difference for Pioneer to maintain its unbeaten record.

In a day of close encounters defending champion Wolverines narrowly missed grabbing its first win of the season when it squandered two chances, one in regulation and another in closing moments of overtime, to beat Lincoln University, only to go down 84-85 in the overtime play after the game was tied 77-77. There were 12 lead changes and the game was tied on 10 occasions in a match that could have gone either way. Wolverines did well to get back in the game to force extra time with four players including George Love and Alex Irvine missing from the lineup. Nick Erwood continued on with some of his best basketball for Lincoln University, notching 22 points and 22 rebounds and Canterbury Ram Xavier Shaw showed his strength with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Sam Crozier and Ben Williams were the difference in Lincoln securing the win. Taylor Britt again displayed great skills in notching 22 points for Wolverines while Keiran Ball dominated the boards with 13 points and 17 huge rebounds and had support from Croydon Thompson.

Perennial champion Atami clawed its way back against Gators after a poor start to scrap home in the closing moments 76-75. Former Taranki NBL players Derek Albertson (29) again led Atami, backed up by Aled Jones, while Inga Solufuti slipped the Atami defence to slot 27 points for Gators. Gators led strongly 29-15 at the first break while Atami started to claw its way back in the next two quarters, point by point and snatch a late victory.

Checkers, reinforced by the return from injury of Joe Cook-Green pulled away late in the game to a 107-92 victory over the Canterbury Under 19 side in a non-competition game. Pioneer now leads the Men’s table unbeaten with four wins, University slips to second with the loss with Lincoln University. Checkers, Gators and Atami share fourth place with one win apiece. Pioneer have one hand placed in the Hoben trophy final on June 18th, while anyone of four other teams are in with a chance for the other spot.

 

Lincoln University cemented a spot in the Patron’s trophy Women’s final with a solid 76-56 win over North Canterbury, Lincoln’s fifth straight victory. Hayley Gray, player/coach for North Canterbury opted to sit out her sides encounter against top dog Lincoln University to rest up for this weekend’s major effort for the Canterbury Wildcats at the WBC Championship finals at Porirua where the Wildcats are top qualifier. Tall Ferns trialist Shea Crotty was also not available, but LU was still left with a formidable line up of three other Wildcats with Tessa Morrison shooting the lights out with 22, and LU scholar Courtney Hamblin along with Fran Edmondson notching 17 apiece. For North Canterbury their other Wildcat Ashlee Fane plundered the boards with a gritty effort to slot 20 points including three triples while Tyler Courtney had her usual penetrating game for 13 points. North Canterbury welcomed back its Junior Tall Fern Charlotte Whittaker who made a solid effort on defence but was unable to penetrate the solid LU wall. 

Defending and long term champion University of Canterbury bounced back after last week’s surprise loss to Minties but stumbled somewhat against a determined young Gators side, and were forced to come from behind late in the game to win 81-74 to maintain second placing. The petite Bianca Aguiar was the mainstay behind a University comeback, piling on 26 points against Gators while Rosanna Katene (15) and Sapphire Wairau pulled University through against a determined Gators, led by Harriet Fenwick with 24.

The experienced Minties notched up its second win but had to work hard against new entrant Wolverines before winning 74-63. Letitia Mullaly (15) led Wolverines to another gritty effort in their first season in Premiers with the more experienced Minties, led by 18 points from Jess Rathgen slowly pulling away.

Pioneer moved into a share of third place alongside North Canterbury, pulling away with a strong final quarter to beat Halswell 57-39. Jo Casey and Bree Cumming enabled Pioneer to pull away from Halswell with Anna Williams slotting 13 for Halswell and the veteran Bridget Salkeld had an off day shooting 1-15.

 

Results were:

 

Men's Premier Grade Hoben Trophy Round four: Atami 76 (Derek Albertson 29, Aled Jones 14, Scott Howell 10, Angus Forbes 10) Gators 75 (Stephen Nosworthy 21, 11R, Inga Solofuti 27). HT: Gators 44-35, Lincoln University 85 (Nick Erwood 22, 22R, Xavier Shaw 16, 15R, Ben Williams 14, 11R, James Cawthorn 13, Sam Crozier 12) Wolverines 84 (Taylor Britt 22, Croydon Thompson 17, Keiran Ball 13, 18R, Dean Le Warne 11, 7R) in extra-time. HT: 45-53, FT 77-77. ET: 85-84, Pioneer Pacers 76 (Marty Davison 26, 5A, Harley Campbell 18, Ariel Mepana 11) University 67 (Brent Fisher 20, 10R, Josh Petermann 14, Dan Pau’u 11, 11R). HT: 36-34, Checkers 107 (Joe Cook-Green 30, Nat Connell 15, Tyson Silberry 14, Pip Johnston 13) Canterbury U19 92 (Toby Gillooly 22, Quinn Clinton 22, Matt Dukes 13). HT: CU19 53-51. Points table: Pioneer 4W, 8 pts; University AND LU 3W,1L, 7; Checkers, Gators and Atami 2W, 2L, 6.

Women’s Premier Patron’s Trophy Round 5: University 81 (Bianca Aguiar 26, Rosanne Katene 15, Sapphire 13)  Gators 74 (Harriet Fenwick 24, Lucy Brown 16, Tsubasa Nisbett 14, Megan Ellis 12). HT: Gators 38-36, Minties 74 (Jess Rathgen 18, Natasha Van Vuuren 11, Anita Snowden 11) Wolverines 63 (Letitia Mullaly 15, Sam Irvine 10). HT: 35-23, Lincoln University 76 (Tessa Morrison 22, Fran Edmonson 17, Courtney Hamblin 17) North Canterbury 56 (Ash Fane 20, Tyler Courtney 13). HT: 45-28, Pioneer 57 (Jo Casey 14, Bree Cumming 12, Poly Hill 10) Halswell 39 (Anna Williams 13, Nao Matsui 12). HT: 28-22. Points table after five rounds: Lincoln University 5W, 10 pts, University 4W, 1L, 9,  Pioneer and North Canterbury 3W, 2L, 8, Halswell and Minties 2W, 3L, 7.

Men’s Under 23: Checkers 76 Gators White 67, Atami 81 Pioneer Blue 70, Pioneer Yellow 86 Lincoln Longhorns 42 (Joshua Lowell 11, Karesse Lavery 10), Lincoln University Bulls 79 (Nick Erwood 21, 13R, Ben Williams 14, Ben Bowie 11, James Levings 10, 12R, 5A) Gators Green 74 (Sam Lees 23), Wolverines 81 (Taylor Britt 20) North Canterbury 62 (Liam Connelly 16, Lauchie Weston 15, Lawson Morris-Whyte 12), University A 105 University B 52.